This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 with respect to Japanese Patent No. 2001-363408 filed on Nov. 28, 2001, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a sunroof assembly. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a sunroof assembly which opens and closes a roof opening portion provided on a roof of a vehicle with a plurality of movable panels.
A known sunroof assembly including plural movable panels span a roof opening portion in a vehicle width direction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,413. With the known sunroof assembly, rear ends of plural movable panels are lifted to be tilted, that is, the rear ends of the movable panels are tilted up to open the roof opening portion, and the movable panels are moved in the rearward direction to widely open the roof opening portion. Generally, known sunroof assemblies include a weather strip as sealing member for sealing a clearance between the first movable panel in front and the second movable panel positioned in the rear of the first movable panel when the movable panels are closed and a weather strip for sealing a clearance between the movable panels and the roof opening portion in order to prevent the invasion of the water in a vehicle compartment.
Notwithstanding, with the known sunroof assembly, there is a drawback that vehicle width directional end portions at the clearance between the first movable panel in front and the second movable panel positioned in the rear of the first movable panel, that is, a portion where two weather strips are crossing to contact each other, has low water proof performance compared to other portions. Particularly, when the water is directly applied to the weather strips to have the car washed with a high water pressure, the weather strips may be deformed to allow the water invasion into the vehicle compartment.
A need thus exists for a sunroof assembly for opening and closing a roof opening portion provided on a vehicle roof with a plurality of movable panels which improves the water proof performance of vehicle width directional end portions at a clearance between a first movable panel in front and a second movable panel positioned in the rear of the first movable panel.
In light of the foregoing, the present invention provides a sunroof assembly which includes a first movable panel provided at the front of a roof opening portion provided on a roof of a vehicle, a second movable panel provided in the rear of the first movable panel, a sealing member for sealing a clearance between the sunroof assembly and a vehicle compartment, and a preventive wall for covering the sealing member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a sunroof assembly includes a first movable panel provided at the front of a roof opening portion provided on a roof of a vehicle, a second movable panel provided in the rear of the first movable panel, a first sealing member extended in a vehicle width direction for sealing a clearance between the first movable panel and the second movable panel when the first movable panel and the second movable panel are closed, and a first preventive wall formed for covering an end portion of the first sealing member in vehicle width direction.